The great American adventure: Day 16, 17 & 18

Today has been pretty uneventful, to be honest. I’ve traveled most of the day. I left Las Vegas in the morning, and am now in New York City again.

On Tuesday I had a rather slow morning. I had deiced to take it fairly quiet, and only went for a walk down the Strip. It was still very hot, so the energy level wasn’t great. However, walking south down the strip was interesting enough. I got to see more of the hotels, and the hotels in Las Vegas are strange. Like New York, New York, which is supposed to look like, as you probably guessed, New York. There’s also one that looks like Disneyland or something. And a whole lot of other strange hotels. Remember I said Las Vegas is a bizarre city?

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After my walk, I decided it was time for me to try my luck in the casino. I mean, it’s the thing you just have to do in Las Vegas. I didn’t play for a fortune. I lost the total of $1 on the slot machines, and $1 on the wheel of fortune. Oh well.

My friend D came to pick me up in the afternoon, and he took me to Hoover Dam. It was actually constructed during the great depression; the construction work started in 1931, and was finished five years later. I found the dam quite impressive, especially since it was built in a time when they didn’t have the modern technology we have today!

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The dam is on the border of Arizona and Nevada, and from the point we were looking at it, we were officially in Arizona, and by that another time zone! That was a bit funny.

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After having a look at Hoover Dam, we stopped to enjoy the view of Lake Mead, which is the reservoir connected to Hoover Dam. It is huge, and quite beautiful.

D and I went to have dinner at Port a Subs, where we both had wraps. Mine had avocado and salad and stuff (as I am a vegetarian), and some yummy unsweetened tea. After dinner, D dropped me off by my hotel.

In the evening I went to see the Cirque du Solieil show at the hotel (I got 20% off the tichet as I was a guest there). I have been wanting to see Cirque du Soleil for ages, as I know they are quite unique at what they’re doing. They have several different shows, and the show at the hotel is called Zarkana. This was actually the show in Las Vegas I wanted to see the most!

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The show was spectacular! I loved the whole steampunk and goth look it had, and the acrobats were amazing. The thing that really does it, though, is how it’s all wove together, the music, colours, stunts – the whole thing! It’s more than just acrobats “doing their thing”. It really was the prefect end of the day.

Yesterday was spent mostly by the hotel pool. It was nice just to relax and take it easy. I found a sunbed in the shadow, and I either read my book, or went for a swim in the pool to cool down.

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The travel to New York City today went smoothly. I love the hotel I’m currently staying at: The Library Hotel. I admit that it’s expensive to stay here, but so are most hotels in New York. It’s very central, though, and designed for book lovers. There are books pretty much everywhere! And the complimentary chocolates welcoming you have book or library related quotes too! I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight!

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The great American adventure: Day 15

Las Vegas is probably the most bizarre city I have ever visited. It sure isn’t like anything else! Arriving at the airport, which I blogged about yesterday, would give a fair hint of that. But more about that later, first things first.

The past few days I had been communicating with a bookcrosser here in Las Vegas about meeting up, and at noon she came to pick me up. We headed to the Town Square, where we were to meet with another bookcrosser. We found something to eat, and sat outside in the small park there. It was fun to chat about bookcrossing and such. We then went for what we call a “release walk”, which basically means walking around and leaving bookcrossing books around.

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The other bookcrossers had brought their kids, and after the release walk, the kids got to play in an area with some water fountains designed for that very purpose. Brilliant in my opinion, especially in the Las Vegas heat, which is more intense than any heat I have ever experienced before. We’re talking about temperatures of almost +39°C (or +102°F).

After the other bookcrossers had left, I walked around the Town Square for a bit, even managed to find a pair of nice, comfortable, black sandals that I’ve been searching for for ages. After that, I bought something cold to drink, and sat down to read in the park, while waiting for my friend D to pick me up.

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After relaxing and reading for a wee while, my friend D, whom I’ve known online for over a decade, came to pick me up. He took me to the beautiful Red Rock Canyon. Las Vegas is in the dessert, and even though the heat in the city is intense, it’s better out in the canyon. You have a bit more air, so to say.

Red Rock Canyon is situated 24 km (15 miles) outside the city of Las Vegas, and when you see the mountains you immediately understand the name: The rocks are indeed red. It is simply beautiful, and I found it to be quite breath taking.

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D took me around the scenic route, which is a drive of 21 km (13 miles), and we had a few stops to enjoy the view. At Sandstone Quarry we even experienced a moment of silence: No cars, no people talking, just the breeze. It was broken by a car approaching, but the short moment was quit wonderful.

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After the visit to Red Rock Canyon, we headed to have dinner at a restaurant. The menu was an interesting read. It stated it had over 30 vegetarian dishes (but where were they all?), and had several warnings. One of the warnings really made me laugh out load: The olives had pits! OK, so I know that they often remove the pits from olives, but the good ones should still have them.

I ordered the Greek salad, that was supposed to have olives and feta cheese. I love olives and feta cheese. However, when the salad arrived, I thought it was a sad excuse for a Greek salad. The feta cheese I’m not sure was real feta cheese. It neither looked nor tasted like it.

After dinner, D dropped me off at my hotel (I’m staying at the Aria), and I had a rest in my room before heading out again. I went for a walk on the north part of the Strip. The Las Vegas Strip really is somthing else – this is where you find all the main hotels and casinos in the city, and it’s full of billboards, neon lights, music coming from “nowhere” (not really, but it feels that way), and people.

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I went up to the Bellagio, which is famous for its spectacular water fountain show. The show is designed in a way so that it seems as if the water “dances” to the music. I stayed for two whole shows, and they were actually two different shows: One was to the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, the other was to Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean”. I took a lot of footage, which you can see it the video below.

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After my walk, I headed back to the hotel, and ended my first proper day in Las Vegas.

The great American adventure: Day 14

Yesterday was my last day in the state Washington, and my friend Meg took me to a really nice little forest called Bresemann Forest. It was a warm, sunny and lovely day, and perfect for a walk in green surroundings.

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So, we went walking, and we were chatting, and I had a wonderful time. We also found a small creek.

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In the afternoon it was time to leave for the airport, and then to fly south to Las Vegas. The flight was delayed, but we were finally heading south, and a couple of hours after takeoff, we arrived at the airport in Las Vegas.

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Now, the airport in Las Vegas is nothing like any other airport I’ve ever been to! It felt surreal – just have a look at the footage in the video below!

I went to take the shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel. After standing in the line to buy a ticket, I went up to the bus, and was told that sorry, the bus was full, and I had to wait for the next bus. So the next bus arrived, and then I had to wait for it to fill up, before it finally took me to my goal.

Checking in to the hotel went smoothly, and even though the view from my room’s window isn’t as fantastic as from my room in New York City, it’s still good. The room is good though! And it was nice to finally be able to getting to bed.

The great American adventure: Plans

In June I will be visiting the USA for the very first time in my life. I’m very excited, and will be staying there for three weeks. A three week stay in a country far away takes quite a bit of planning, and needless to say, I have spent a whole lot of time finding the right flights and hotels.

The hotels I will be staying at are:
3 – 10 June: The New Yorker Hotel
16 – 20 June: Aria Resort & Casino
20 – 23 June: The Library Hotel

Itinerary

Monday 3 June 2013

FROM DEPARTURE TO ARRIVAL
Stavanger 09:00 Gardermoen 09:50
Gardermoen 11:10 Newark Liberty International 13:10

Monday 10 June 2013

FROM DEPARTURE TO ARRIVAL
John F Kennedy Intl 17:35 SeaTac Airport 21:06

Sunday 16 June 2013

FROM DEPARTURE TO ARRIVAL
SeaTac Airport 20:35 Las Vegas McCarran Intl Airport 22:55

Thursday 20 June 2013

FROM DEPARTURE TO ARRIVAL
Las Vegas McCarran Intl Airport 10:43 John F Kennedy Intl 18:44

Sunday 23 June 2013

FROM DEPARTURE TO ARRIVAL
New York, Newark Liberty International 19:00 Gardermoen 08:20
Gardermoen 09:40 Sola 10:30